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Lesson 4
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11 Replies
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Doug’s Character Interviews: WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS ASSIGNMENT IS – a ton of amazing information about Athena, my antagonist, who is, basically, setting the stage for this whole adventure – and what an amazing and complex person she is! And getting some hints of what it must be like to be her daughter (Shania) – and for Shania to be her father’s daughter, as well
And then what Nick is going to be up against – as her opponent and adversary and, hahaha – her future son-in-law! Good luck, dude!
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR ANTAGONIST – ATHENA
Tell me about yourself.
Okay – my actual name is Athena (not what you were calling me before). I grew up in London, with West Indian and Indian parents – I was the apple of their eye and always organized my friends into games and scenarios and plays and kingdoms. I was really really good at math and philosophy, even as a kid. Tried to play violin, but got frustrated and smashed it – and my parents really really got mad at me for that. No more music.
I did really well in school – but because I had organized my friends into a shoplifting ring (as little kids) to help them with “Christmas gifts” for their family, I had a juvenile police record (my parents, again, flipped out – even though I told them it was for them) – and – as a result, when I was up for my higher education, I was rejected by the schools my academic achievements merited. I was really angry – but went to the more pedestrian schools and ended up learning most of my “stuff” from others. I ended up leaving home, living with a boyfriend (who was a little bit of an upper crustacean – my term for the “upper classes” who had taken a turn away from the straight and narrow) who I thought was hot stuff – he knew how to game the system in a lot of ways – but got mad at me when I was able to suggest “better ways of doing things”. He started to beat me – but I’d had enough and, well, used his own cricket bat to send him off a dark pier on the Thames, and that was that. What a mystery that he had disappeared! I was grief-stricken (actually, laughing myself silly at the time) – and took over the best of his criminal endeavors – and ran them much better than before – and all of my associates were so happy with the way things were working, they were never worried that their former boss had disappeared. Probably went to Australia was the smirking consensus.
I started having dealings with bankers and others, due to the nature of some of the concerns – the posh gentry (some of them) who had graduated from the schools that wouldn’t have me – and it was quite fun to see how I could actually run circles around them and how easy it was to corrupt them and put them in my debt.
And then, through these circles, I met someone I thought was different – sort of a knight in shining armor, He was handsome, charming, never condescending – recognized my brilliance without being threatened by it – and came from the circles which were everything I was not. When I took the opportunity to introduce him to my parents, they were dumbfounded (we hadn’t spoken for a few years, but I chose to get back in touch with them, just, sort of, to show them what their little girl had made of herself), And, yes, I did miss them, and yes, I did still love them.
He and I were going to get married – especially since I was now pregnant. He assured me his parents would be fine with all this – but then – well, they weren’t. They, and his older brother, staged an “intervention” and, basically, kidnapped him and took him up to a family estate in Scotland where they kept him in isolation and brainwashed him back to his “responsibility” to the family and society and his class – and his father (we’ll get back to him later) actually beat him and doused him with ice water and kept him in an isolation cell in an old castle – until he broke and disavowed me and swore that he would never see or attempt to contact me or even mention my name (yes, it’s Athena) again.
I took a road trip up there, with a small caravan of my guys – but we were met by the local police and a regiment of Scottish Highlanders – who tipped our cars into a ravine, threatened my guys at gunpoint and told them that they would be arrested and locked up for about a hundred years each – and then they started to move on me, But… God bless ‘em, my guys defended me, beat the shit out of the locals, stole one of their cars (because ours were all gone) and we got the hell out of there. Back to London, safe and sound.
But… we all swore that we would take them down, the entire family, even if it took a hundred years.
I had my baby and continued with my work, graduating to higher and higher realms of financial success – going international – and, occasionally catching a glimpse of my daughter’s father through the headlines, as he ascended in the Foreign Service and other levels of government. The truth was, he did still love me, and even though he had been broken in many ways – he, from time to time, would send me a sign – through a code we had evolved many years before – to let me know that he loved me, loved our daughter,,,
And there came a time, when she was still a student at Oxford (there was no way they were going to keep her out) – that he managed to “drop in and accidentally bump into her” – and they spent hours together, getting to know each other.
It was really hard for me to accept this – I raged against her for a while, that it was a horrible betrayal – but she got me to accept the fact that this was her dad – and, though he was weak and had been corrupted – wasn’t a major part of the work I was involved with also involved with “corrupting the weak, who were also powerful”? And she assured me that her love for him did not extend to his father and other members of the family that had broken up ours.
Having to do with this journey, what are your strengths and weaknesses?
So – I am a very strong person. I can absorb pain that would break most people. I can cause pain without flinching. I can love beyond imagination. But I am really really sad at the family I never got to create (instead – substituting my “criminal family”) – though my daughter is the most important part of my life – I am still working towards the day that I am more powerful than the powerful father and family of my daughter’s father – and my greatest goal is to crush them utterly. Not sure what happens after that, but it will mark a completion – of the poor girl from the streets rising up to surpass the favored aristocracy who scorned and punished her – only to be scorched to the bone by her powerful wrath.
Why are you committed to making the Protagonist fail? Or for a relationship movie, why are you committed to making them change?
Because, rather than helping me with my quest and, perhaps, becoming a worthy son-in-law and partner to my daughter – Nick is trying to change the rules of the game and play in such a way that I will not gain the money and power leverage that I seek and that I need to use as a weapon in my fight against my own enemies.
What do you get out of winning this fight / succeeding in your plan / taking down your competition?
The satisfaction of beating the rich and powerful at their own game – and moving one step closer to avenging my own ancient humiliation and pain through my ultimate success.
What drives you toward your mission / agenda, even in the face of danger, ruin, or death?
I think that’s pretty clear from all of the above!
What secrets must you keep to succeed? What other secrets do you keep out of fear / insecurity?
That I still love my “almost husband”. That the pet we shared – that he gave me – I think that I drowned it in the river, at the same place I had pushed my former boyfriend – because I was in such pain, but then I never have recovered from the pain and sadness and guilt of that moment, (whew!)
Compared to other people like you, what makes you special?
You don’t want to come up against me – I’m smarter, more ruthless, more willing to make sacrifices to achieve my goals – and I love my daughter so fiercely that you had better not mess with her, or else. PS I have folks watching out for her for me, 24/7, even though I’m across the ocean – yeah – and building the empire that I intend for her to inherit – maybe even in the ruins of her father’s family that I intend to take down,
What do you think of ?
Remains to be seen – but, rest assured, I won’t be shy!
Tell me your side of this whole conflict / story.
I think I just did!
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR PROTAGONIST – NICK
Tell me about yourself.
Well…. Let’s go to the next question and maybe come back to this one.
Why do you think you were called to this journey? Why you?
I’m sort of a strange mirror-image of Athena – we’re both kind of up from the streets – strong intelligent neat people who have been dealt a crooked hand, so to speak, by life. I have a lot of drive, a really strong desire to succeed – but, deep inside, I’m driven more by love and desire to help those I perceive as my family, rather than a desire to break and destroy the folks that Athena perceives as the ones who ruined her family. – She may get there eventually, but she’s got the revenge/hatred/showing that she’s better than the others thing going. I have some of that on the surface, thinking that I have to work in that “zero sum game” way – but then I break through it and start to play the game differently – which is when I run afoul of what she (and Shania) are doing.
You are up against Athena… . What is it about them that makes this journey even more difficult for you?
Well, I really understand how the system makes things hard for folks like us – and how coming up with ways to game it feel justified and good. And – well, I am coming to love Shania and want to be on the same side as she is, but that is getting difficult as things unfold – and I do have loyalties to people like Jerome – and it is really hard to have him killed and not want to achieve justice for him. Though – it is good that I finally find out that it was not Athena and Shania and Scott and Ernesto, etc, who had him killed – it was really one of the nephews or something from Queen Mother’s HDFC who had heard the legends of hidden treasure and came in there to find the treasure – I think – but that will be a red herring that will be puzzling and all, going forward. And… there’s more going on here, yet to discover. Or, maybe, it’s one of the folks from the next-door church property? Don’t know.
But having to shift into learning that the “rough and tough Manhattan real estate market” is actually best played by my own inner-heart-directed means – which I am coming to realize are more of who I am than the street-smart Nick I always thought was the “me” who I needed to be to succeed… that’s really a tough and rewarding change to implement.
In order to survive or accomplish this, you are going to have to step way outside of your box. What changes do you expect to make and which of them will be the most difficult?
I think the above is what is going on with this question – breaking through the surface of “winning” by making someone “lose” is how I thought the big boys played the game – but now I’m realizing that, even if this is the case, I don’t want to play that way. And how can I accept Shania – when I know she’s a part of all these other things – and is, in effect, pulling a lot of the strings (she and her mom)? But I will.
What habits or ways of thinking do you think will be the most difficult to let go of?
Not trusting? Other things as well, which will show themselves as we go.
What fears, insecurities and wounds have held you back?
I let my best friend down. What does that say about me? Do I have the background, the education, the understanding, the strength, the chutzpah to pull all this off?
What skills, background or expertise makes you well-suited to face this conflict or antagonist?
Well, I am pretty fast, thinking on my feet – I can improvise – I do have some good “petty criminal skills” and I’m pretty good physically. And… I can formulate “visions” and gestalts of how things are working on the fly – and these give me a way of thinking outside the normal box, because I am seeing things in different patterns from the way that people normally see them. So – when I work with my pattern, I can move to a different part of it – and suddenly come out of what looks like a very unexpected place but which is totally logical in the pattern that I am perceiving. (Note: this is pretty interesting, and I don’t totally understand it, but it seems like Nick does, so I look forward to exploring this and learning more, and it feels like it might be a significant way that the story and Nick’s actions will move forward)
What are you hiding from the other characters? What don’t you want them to know?
That I really love people – that I’m not rough and tough – that I feel sorry for even the nasty folks I’m up against – that, basically, I don’t have that “killer instinct” they talk about. I’ll get people backed all the way into the corner, but rather than going in for the kill, I’ll let them off the hook and get away.
But then again, when I work in a different way – I would no longer be “backing them into the corner for the kill”, but, instead, working with them in a cooperative way (even if they don’t realize it, because they “think” I’m still trying to win at their expense) – so that there’s no corner – and then, to their surprise, suddenly, we both win – and there’s nothing for them to do but accept our shared victory!
What do you think of ?
I’m thinking that this Manhattan real estate microcosm is a really interesting vision of, well, everything – heaven and hell and middle earth!
Tell me your side of this whole conflict / story.
At first, I want to succeed by “pillaging the countryside” – making my money and going home to the people I really care about. But then I realize that I want the people I meet here to succeed on their terms, so they can be happy, too – and that we can all succeed together, and I’ll do my best to realize the wealth I need, to help my family back home – but I won’t do it in a way that I will feel ashamed of or bad about.
What does it do for your life if you succeed here?
Whoa! I will have fulfilled my dream – but with the rest of it yet to come (as I get to work on “Act 2” of this adventure).
Ask any other questions about their character profile that will help you.
Don’t worry – it will all unfold as we go!
NOTE: It will be great to ask Shania all these questions and to dialogue with her, but don’t feel like I’m quite ready for that adventure!
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Character Interviews.
David Bruno.
Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
I’ve become much more familiar with the protag and antag personal motivations.
ASSIGNMENT
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR PROTAGONIST
Tell me about yourself.
I teach Evolutionary Biology at a prestigious university, and believe the conventional theories of the origins of man are obsolete. I have some things I want to prove about that and I’m determined to discover the truth.
Why do you think you were called to this journey? Why you?
Simply, BALLS and BRAINS.
You are up against . What is it about them that makes this journey even more difficult for you?
They have resources and authority that can stop me at every turn if they suspect my investigations.
In order to survive or accomplish this, you are going to have to step way outside of your box. What changes do you expect to make and which of them will be the most difficult?
To defeat this great agency, the most difficult will be to disappear from the grid.
What habits or ways of thinking do you think will be the most difficult to let go of?
The banality of the conventional American life style and the creature comforts.
What fears, insecurities and wounds have held you back?
A career path and a struggle to follow my father’s directions. Agoraphobia.
What skills, background or expertise makes you well-suited to face this conflict or antagonist?
My profession and research of the issues makes me a leader in my field.
What are you hiding from the other characters? What don’t you want them to know?
I don’t want them to know that I’d leave them behind to their lifestyle in order to succeed in this goal.
Tell me your side of this whole conflict / story.
I’ve always had a healthy skepticism of academia/government because I was able outwit most of my professors and who asserted textbook theories in the face of conflicting facts. I will find the answer I seek.
What does it do for your life if you succeed here?
A great tension from conflicting with the norm will be lifted and I will be elevated to a more prestigious status in the world of academia and politics.
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR ANTAGONIST
Tell me about yourself.
I head up a department in the National Security Agency concerned with state secrets and the absolute privacy of them… even at the cost of human life when threatened by possible exposure. I’m a 30 year career staff and value it above all else. We do anything we have to.
Having to do with this journey, what are your strengths and weaknesses?
The strength of the NSA is at my disposal, and the weakness of government ineptitude in the initiative of any action with the exception of special forces and weapons.
Why are you committed to making the Protagonist fail?
The secrets the protag seeks to uncover are of utmost importance to national security, if exposed, the country’s hegemony would undergo a paradigm shift not seen in centuries.
What do you get out of winning this fight / succeeding in your plan / taking down your competition?
Maintaining the status quo is paramount. Discovering how this protag achieved as much as he has is needed data to reveal leaks in our security system.
What drives you toward your mission / agenda, even in the face of danger, ruin, or death?
Dedication as a simple soldier has been in place since I began, do or die…
What secrets must you keep to succeed? What other secrets do you keep out of fear / insecurity?
The disposition of extraterrestrials and their existence must be hidden. I personally oversee the redaction of top secret documents that have been released to the press officially.
Compared to other people like you, what makes you special?
My ability to think clearly under stress and execute decisions in the shade of gray.
Tell me your side of this whole conflict / story.
The world isn’t ready to know what is happening beyond their mundane lives. I am the keeper and watcher of that which would cause panic and anarchy. I will do, by any means necessary to preserve the status quo of our lifestyle.
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Aina’s Character Interviews
What I learned doing this assignment is that Empowerment before writing helps so much to get things I really do not like doing done. I really dislike Character Interviews. But I made myself do it this time, and Empowerment was the only way I could bring myself round to it.
URR – the modern family-elf –
What came out of the interview: All Urr wants is to keep his family together. The farmhouse is too big for him to be able to keep an eye on all members at all time, and he yearns for his loneliness he had in the city. His biggest fear is not knowing what would happen to him if the family were to break up – so he is ready to do whatever he can to keep them together. He really does not like talking, he thinks it’s a waste of breath.
Updated character profile:
Role in the story: Dreamer/Fighter – well groomed, set in his ways, loner family elf, happy with his life in the city – naive to the world outside his apartment. When thrust into the rough world of a farm needs to find the fighter inside in order to survive.
Age range and Description: Male, young elf – 7 years old (since this is how long the family has existed), wiry but tough
Internal Journey: from a inexperienced, anxious but spirited loner to merry and easygoing, mischievous elf – it’s okay to open up
External Journey: from a loner city elf to the, albeit reluctantly, adventurous one who reunites all the farm elves at his new home
Motivation: to make sure his family does not break up
Wound: He is lonely, has been from day one he came into existence – lesson learned: loneliness is a choice + he is so scared that his family will break up and he does not know what will then happen to him.
Mission/Agenda: after his family moves from city to a farmhouse in the country, Urr’s agenda is to manipulate his family to move back to the city where the family is in confined space and easier to look after and make sure they stay together
Secret: he knows nothing about elves, where they come from, what kind there are etc – he is terrified of not knowing what would happen to him I the family were to fall apart – he actually likes it in the country
What makes them special? His ability to come out of his shell and inspire warring sides to work together – behind a loner shell is a creative natural leader.
What draws us to this character? A naive, spirited loner unaware of his kin and history, his best intentions get used and abused by everyone around him.
Traits: spirited, slightly gullible, curious, quick learner, vulnerable
Subtext: says as little as he can get away with to guard his character and space from others (taken as impolite by others), uses politeness to disarm opposition.
Flaw: considers himself a loner, not to have any friends ever
Values: autonomy, creativity, compassion, politeness, optimism
Irony: His positive, spirited character is what draws others to him, while he himself wants to be left alone.
What makes this the right character for this role? He has no idea where he comes from and who-what family-elves are, all he knows is what he must do – we go on the journey of discovering his roots with him.
VELBAS – ancient house elf
What came out of the interview: He’s a bit hot and rather big headed. But there’s also reason for it, because he has seen a lot and fought creatures small and large in his life.
He cares deeply for his house and having people live in it after 20 years of house being empty is a blessing for Velbas and all the other elves looking after the farm, most of whom, including Velbas, had been already making plans of leaving.
He lives with his young daughter and feels blessed to be able to pass a farmhouse with a family on to her. Thus, Urr’s plan to get family move away from the farm does not suit Velbas at all.
Updated character profile:
Role in the Story: Authority – proud of his house and unwilling to share it with anybody.
Age range and Description: Male ancient house-elf, 156 years old – same age as the farm house, mischievous boy hidden inside a grumpy old man
Internal Journey: from grumpy, entitled authority man to a humbled old teacher
External Journey: from locked away lonely house to always open and busy stables
Motivation: every house in order to survive needs people to live in and Velbas will not let this family move away, Urr’s family is the lifeline for his house and legacy for his daughter
Wound: when he was young, he wanted to be a stable elf but his father would have none of it and Velbas had to follow family traditions and take over the farm house.
Mission/Agenda: to get rid of Urr but keep his family, and find out all he can about dark shadows from Urr.
Secret: his infatuation with Tunne (she/her) the stable-elf, he knows about dark shadows and their destructive influence on families, but he tells the farm elves that dark shadows do not exist (not to frighten the elves)
What makes them special? He is a great manipulator
What draws us to this character? A grumpy old wise man, who has hidden his soft-kind side away – how long will he last when faced with a spirited opposition?
Traits: grumpy, wise, sincere, proud
Subtext: always tries to stand taller than what he is (ready to climb the highest rock for that) to stress his importance and keep distance from others at the same time; constantly squinting eyes look through everyone around him – he scrutinizes and judges everything and everybody.
Flaw: he likes putting others down
Values: authority, determination, knowledge, peace, fairness
Irony: he tries to distance himself from others while he is dying to share his knowledge and wisdom – he really does not want to be a house elf but does it with pride because this is his duty
What makes this the right character for this role? With his age and wisdom he is the best opposition for Urr, one that can outsmart Urr easily but has admiration for young elf’s desire to learn and get better, while keeping his loner status (Velbas can relate to deciding to create distance)
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Benita. Lesson 4 Characters interviews. I enjoyed ‘speaking’ as my two characters.
TRACY – PROTAGONIST
I live with my mother in North London in a two-bed flat. My father walked out on us when I was two. He had a market stall as a watch repairer although I never knew him. He divorced mum and married an American visitor and went back to the states with her. Mum works as a sports centre receptionist, where she dates fit young guys and gets large tips. She dresses glam and goes out a lot. I’m a disappointment and a waste of space who doesn’t contribute to the household pot. I need a worthwhile job, not the rubbish I’ve been offered so far. It’s not my fault I left school with no qualifications. We had rotten teachers who couldn’t be bothered with me. I’d rather twist bits of wire or bang in nails and make something rather than analyse stupid books written by someone in the 18th century. I was told that I had no patience and couldn’t concentrate. Well, I know I could if it was something I really wanted to do. I loved making things with plasticine and clay as a kid, ‘till mum got fed up with the mess. When I find some job that interests me, I won’t stop until I make enough money to be independent of mum and have a decent life. And that doesn’t include relying on marriage or men. Even the boys I have gone out with have been rubbish,
CONSTABLE STRONG – ANTAGONIST
It was my name, wasn’t it? Strong. Though my old man was anything but, being weak-chested and dying young. It was mother wanting me to go in the forces and prove myself that made me join the police. Couldn’t do with actually killing anyone! Don’t mind acting tough and pushing villains around a bit. Take pride in locking them up. Not many get the better of me. Must be something in my psyche makes me not like people much. Well, that’s their lookout. It’s not so much I want promotion after twenty years of service. I’m no brain-box but being given boring jobs like surveyance is driving me nuts. Mind you, that’s what I probably am. I’ve got this addition. Got it out of boredom. Went online on my phone while sitting around for hours. It’s got me into trouble. I can’t sleep nights I owe so much money. It’s gambling debts, see. Got geezers to pay off and they have no respect for bobbies like me. It’s now or never. I won’t be here no more if I don’t get the money to repay them.
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Lesson 4 Interviews
Learned: Not happy with my story yet but fumbling forward to get that first draft. Step by step approach is helping fight internal questions/doubts/old habits/bad juju.
Protag: Natalie
Me? Not much to say. Since my mom died a few months ago nothing has color anymore. I was her caregiver. She was always more spirited than me that sometimes I wish it had been me who died instead.
Why me? Someone picked the wrong person. I work in accounting and that’s not exactly adventurous or known for deep introspection. ‘Spiritual Healing by the Numbers’ by Natalie Smith, future best seller. Oh it feels food to laugh again.
This will be a difficult journey because I like to know where I’m going and why and have a good plan. Just ask my husband because it drives – er drove – him crazy.
I expect that hotel accommodations might not be up to snuff in my mother’s homeland. They probably eat very fatty foods but good breads. I’m packing vitamins.
I don’t mean to be so glib with your questions but how many internal resources will it take to file some paperwork?
I’m an open and mostly empty book. You are reading way too much into what my qualities and qualifications are. I love my mother and doing this for her so I guess that motivation that should trump any qualms I have about signing some dusty forms.
I am not good at standing up for myself and don’t speak the language but I have planned to over come this by hiring a service. They promise a fluent multi-lingual guide who is not intimidated by local bureaucrats.
I could use some time away from home that reminds me of the issues with my husband. Maybe after this trip I’ll feel like going back to work and getting back into life.
I don’t have any conflict. I weed that out. I keep balanced ledgers in all areas of my life.
Antag: Odon
I don’t know that you need to know anything about me. I am descendant of warrior kings.
The concept of king may have died in this remote part of the world but I still control and wield power. I like to, as you say, blend in. Like a snake in the grass. There is more power in controlling the powerful. That is me. I have minions to service any problems from weaknesses. These weaknesses would not be mine but sometimes the people I control have disquieting ideas.
I plan to meet Natalie because she is a distant relative of sorts. If her intentions do not interfere with mine then I can help her with her mission and put her on a plane. My life will continue well. If she has other intentions then I will bend her to my will.
I have no competition, as you call it. Maybe I have just become lazy because things have been much the same for generations. So I have found ways to enjoy life and that should never be threatened. It is for me. For my forefathers and to maintain the prophecies.
I suppose my secret would be that I am often bored. There is no one at my level – background, understanding, intellect, physical power. I am watchful, not fearful, of an alternative ending to certain prophecies. As long as I am not threatened, I see no need to be cruel.
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New installment for Doug Booth – the third major character:
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR ANTAGONIST – SHANIA
1. Tell me about yourself.
I’m Athena’s daughter – but also my father’s daughter. I’ve been very split, but taking on, to some degree, my mom’s need/desire to show everyone that I’m as good and actually much better than they are. Beat them at their own game. I did have friends growing up and snuck away from home to call my dad in secret. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. But I did love him and really really missed him, and sometimes he would sneak and meet me – and I could never tell my mom, but I always thought that she knew. We just never talked about it. And then, at a certain point, she told me it was time for me to start learning the family business. Well, it turned out to be high level financial crimes, but it was really fun and challenging, and I would shadow her and listen to her calls and go with her – and both of us used to go to martial arts classes together, because she always told me that I had to be able to take care of myself, no matter what. And I did love those times with her – sparring and working out and at those times I felt that we didn’t keep anything back from each other – and that she was pushing me to be the very best I could be – so even when she was beating me up, I loved it, because she was showing me how much she cared for me – because if I could take her on, I could take anyone.
I was put in direct charge of the NYC real estate project – buying up a major block in uptown Manhattan with Uruguayan money that had been liberated from government sources and needed to be laundered – at which point, we would pivot to Albanian funds that needed a similar cleaning, to construct a massive 30 story steel and glass tower – which would then be sold to an Italian-Swiss group, cleansing their money – each time, increasing the amount of money we would be cleaning, and, of course, taking our cut.
We had targeted the properties and worked with the minister of the large church property we needed to acquire, with the attorney general’s okay – and it took a lot to do that – but the minister was very cooperative and the money paid to him “as a consultant” was all folded into the cost of the acquisition.
The large apartment building was classified as “affordable housing” (HDFC) and we needed to get that by means of a third party transfer, which means we had to make sure the warring factions inside the building did not heal their differences, so that the City would declare them in default due to the vast amount of unpaid taxes, water and heating oil bills, etc – and we made sure that we had spoken to the City officials handling the auction so there was no doubt but that we would win.
The historic mansion that underpinned the entire block was the hardest part of the puzzle to nail down – because it was a historic building and there were certain covenants in the deed that would prevent us from doing what we needed to do. And… initially, it was totally not for sale. But, as events unfolded, it was – and since the real estate company my mother had funded was in charge of the sale, there was little doubt that we would be able to get it. Because of the various laws and need to maintain the company in a legitimate light for future endeavors, we had to make sure that the sale was “above board” (right!) – and then there was going to be the problem of how to demolish the mansion to be able to build what we needed to – but – luckily, we made sure that we knew exactly how to ignite the enormous heating oil reservoir that heated the building (look up – would a natural gas explosion be better – maybe….)
(PS we chose this block because we had a City Councilman in our pocket – and this block was the most logical candidate that was within his area – where he could help us to make sure everything would work out)
Anyway, I needed some more foot soldiers (aka “licensed real estate agents”) to help us implement our plan. I was kind of worried about Scott and Jerome, and needed some new blood – so – when I was escorting Ernesto through customs and I saw how this scruffy young guy countered Ernesto’s rude diss – and then gave me a conspiratorial wink – I knew that he would be a great addition to the team. And he was cute…
So – somehow I slipped an appropriate contact card into his pocket (he thought he was slick, but, I’m an all-pro — used one of my contacts) to point him in the right direction, but, from the way he was looking at the Mastery of the Craft real estate ad in the baggage claim area – I figured he didn’t need all that much of a push – and, of course, I knew he already had the cash to cover the tuition! (From Ernesto’s wallet that he had lifted.)
So – when I saw him at the appropriate real estate school (the card I had inserted into his pocket) – I figured – YES! We’re in business.
Didn’t think I’d fall in love with him down the road – but, who am I… God? Not even my mother claims that title, (Goddess, maybe…)
2. Having to do with this journey, what are your strengths and weaknesses?
I’m really smart, strong, quick on my feet – incredibly gifted as a Kendo swordswoman – able to ingratiate myself with people and then pivot and direct them to do what I need them to do,
I do still really love my father, whom my mother hates (but she understands) – and she still wants to take down and destroy his family – even though she knows that this may put us at odds (to say the least) – and neither of us are looking forward to that day – even though we both know it will someday arrive.
And… as it turns out, because of my adventures and union and conflict and growth with Nick – when this day happens – it turns out to be a transformation and transmutation of years and years and years and years of pain and betrayal and hurt and guilt – and we’ll see how it goes, but it is definitely an unlooked for and a much better outcome than anyone could have predicted.
3. Why are you committed to making the Protagonist fail? Or for a relationship movie, why are you committed to making them change?
Well – I am hoping that if my mother succeeds in her amazingly audacious schemes, she will no longer feel the need to destroy my father and his family – she will feel good enough about herself, that she won’t need to go there anymore. At first, my need is for Nick to “work as he is supposed to” to make this plan succeed. And then, shit – as I get to know him and he starts to go through his transformation, I start to understand why he cares about these people and doesn’t want to rip them off and use them for his own goals – but to help them achieve theirs. And that is when I start to see that there is another way – but that this is going to make my mother fail in her attempts — maybe. But maybe it can still, at the last minute, switch and turn – and then maybe, even if it doesn’t and she has that moment to push the button and ensure destruction – she decides that is no longer what she wants to do – and her loyalty to me, her daughter, and my life and happiness – is greater than her desire to destroy her husband (or almost husband) and his snobby ridiculous family – and she lets it go and lets them go on their way – and she is able to move into a whole new realm of positive action.
And she probably then has to deal with all the criminals she’s been dealing with and helping achieve their goals – who are then going to turn on her – and how is that going to work? Well – maybe she is good friends with the PM and the King (sort of a surprise something or other – through a climate change non-profit she funds – yup!) – anyway – he, Charles, intercedes (not by name, but by inference) and it works out pretty well,,,? And,. for me and Nick, a marriage in the great room of the “not destroyed mansion” – with the mortgage deed to the State House recorded (again – it was suppressed before?) and the title to the underlying land now in Carl’s family – but – thanks to the will that Casper left – the income is going to go for really cool community development and support.
4. What do you get out of winning this fight / succeeding in your plan / taking down your competition?
I think I’ve just about got it – at least to continue sorting things out along these lines,
5. What drives you toward your mission / agenda, even in the face of danger, ruin, or death?
Well, I really feel compassionate for my mom – and would do anything to help her achieve her goals and release her pain – while at the same time – I feel the same kind of sympathy for my dad (not for his family) – and well – it’s a strange conflict but feel like it is totally life and death. And involves deep, deep feelings about racism, classism, the shittyness of the wealthy for those less powerful – and dehumanizing of them – there’s a lot going on here! And – I’m pretty tough and don’t flinch in the face of danger, but take it on – because I feel like I’m the baddest bitch in the room – even in a room full of bad ass guys – unless, of course, my mom happens to make a surprise appearance,
6. What secrets must you keep to succeed? What other secrets do you keep out of fear / insecurity?
I’m sure there are some – I think one of them is going to be my deep feelings that start to develop for Nick – as well as my, sort of, ongoing communication with my dad. From my mom, of course, though I do sort of think she knows, even though we never talk about it – and that is just my assumption/hope -which makes me feel like it is okay – though it may or may not be true.
7. Compared to other people like you, what makes you special?
Think I’m just about complete for the moment.
8. What do you think of ?
Well, with Scott – the president of the real estate company – I feel like he could be doing a lot more with affordable housing and not just kissing the butt of his super-rich clients – but then again – that aspect of his character is what allows us to manipulate and use him for our own ends. I’m going to say good night now – but this was really fun – and it will be really interesting to see if what I have revealed about myself and how our “family business” works helps out in the structuring of this story and movie. Stay tuned – I’m pretty interested to see how it works, also – and I am really, really happy to see that we are pointing towards having everything work out really, really well – for me, for Nick – for my mom – and even for my dad. Though – well – not sure what happens to the rest of the clan!
9. Tell me your side of this whole conflict / story.
I just did! Lol…
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Unable to post Lesson 4 though I did work on it from my hospital bed – only I had to dictate so it’ll take time to write up. Meanwhile, I’ve started working on Lesson 5.
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Benita. Lesson 4 Characters interviews. I enjoyed ‘speaking’ as my two characters.
TRACY – PROTAGONIST
I live with my mother in North London in a two-bed flat. My father walked out on us when I was two. He had a market stall as a watch repairer although I never knew him. He divorced mum and married an American visitor and went back to the states with her. Mum works as a sports centre receptionist, where she dates fit young guys and gets large tips. She dresses glam and goes out a lot. I’m a disappointment and a waste of space who doesn’t contribute to the household pot. I need a worthwhile job, not the rubbish I’ve been offered so far. It’s not my fault I left school with no qualifications. We had rotten teachers who couldn’t be bothered with me. I’d rather twist bits of wire or bang in nails and make something rather than analyse stupid books written by someone in the 18th century. I was told that I had no patience and couldn’t concentrate. Well, I know I could if it was something I really wanted to do. I loved making things with plasticine and clay as a kid, ‘till mum got fed up with the mess. When I find some job that interests me, I won’t stop until I make enough money to be independent of mum and have a decent life. And that doesn’t include relying on marriage or men. Even the boys I have gone out with have been rubbish,
CONSTABLE STRONG – ANTAGONIST
It was my name, wasn’t it? Strong. Though my old man was anything but, being weak-chested and dying young. It was my mother wanting me to go into the forces and prove myself that made me join the police. Couldn’t do with actually killing anyone! Don’t mind acting tough and pushing villains around a bit. Take pride in locking them up. Not many get the better of me. Must be something in my psyche that makes me not like people much. Well, that’s their lookout. It’s not so much I want a promotion after twenty years of service. I’m no brain box, but being given boring jobs like surveyance is driving me nuts. Mind you, that’s what I probably am. I’ve got this addition. Got it out of boredom. Went online on my phone while sitting around for hours. It’s got me into trouble. I can’t sleep nights I owe so much money. It’s gambling debts, see. Got geezers to pay off and they have no respect for bobbies like me. It’s now or never. I won’t be here no more if I don’t get the money to repay them.
Benita 4-Act Structure. This really made me get the story down.
ACT 1 …. 25 pages
BEGINNING. At home, TRACY quarrels with her mother and sets out through the market to find a job. A young market stallholder, JIM, fancies her but fails to catch her attention.
INCITING INCIDENT. Tracy spots an advertisement in a locksmith’s shop for an apprentice. The owner, MARTY, an elderly man, interviews her. Marty likes her, they get on well and he teaches her the trade. Tracy learns fast. She also begins to suspect that Marty, apart from his love of ancient cars, has interests elsewhere. Marty introduces Tracy to his wife MARY. and establishes Tracy in a partnership.
TURNING POINT. Marty’s unblemished record as a petty thief/safe breaker ends when a robbery goes badly wrong and ends in a death.
ACT 11 ….. 20 pages
REACTION. The police get involved. Marty’s unusual car is a giveaway, and Marty is suspected. While being interviewed at the police station Marty has a heart attack. Tracy and Mary visit him in hospital. He is guarded by unpleasant CONSTABLE STRONG. Marty confesses all to Mary and Tracy and writes notes to be given to them when he’s ‘no longer there.’ Constable Strong needs money for gambling debts. He believes Marty has hidden his gains, and he visits Tracy in the shop. Before he can get really tough with Tracy, Jim enters as a customer and Constable Strong leaves.
MIDPOINT. Marty dies in hospital.
ACT 111… … 20 pages
Tracy helps Mary with the funeral, and Mary’s sister comes to stay with her. The police move on to other cases. But C. Strong, who has stolen one of Marty’s notes left for Tracey, keenly follows up a lead. Tracy initiates a favour from STEVE, Marty’s locksmith friend, and learns more about mending safes. Tracy is again threatened by C. Strong who demands to search the shop. Jim saves her. Tracy tells him about Marty and Jim accompanies her to Marty’s lockup (part of the shop’s assets). They discover an old car and a mechanic’s pit. Returning the following day, they find C Strong snooping around. After a confrontation, C. Strong falls into the pit. They call the police, who treat his death as accidental. Marty’s hospital nurse returns from holiday. She gives Tracy a note from Marty that she’d forgotten about. Tracy finds Marty’s hidden safe in the pit and Jim solves the clue to unlocking it.
TURNING POINT. The safe contains, a large sum of cash and a bag of jewels.
ACT 1V ….. 25 pages
Marty has left Tracy full control of the business. Tracy and Mary decide that they must return the jewels to their rightful owner. Mary confesses to being Marty’s accomplice all along. Jim helps Tracy to find the owner of the jewels. Mary sets up an appointment and they all journey to a Scottish mansion to meet the owner. Mary, in disguise, gives back the jewels. Mary tells Tracy, Marty would have wanted her to have the money. Tracy and Jim buy a small flat and Tracy starts teaching Jim the trade. In answer to Mary’s hint that she might like to take on some of Marty’s ‘other pursuits,’ Tracy replies, that she’ll ‘think about it.’
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Marilynne’s Character Interviews
What I learned doing this assignment is there is always something more to learn about people and characters.
DR. ISY DORIAN (Protagonist)
She is generally well-liked, but she’s not afraid of a little competition. She expects people to play fair and she’s not good at fighting “dirty.”
Her discovery is very important and can improve the lives of many people. Its success becomes critical to her personally when her son is injured, and she learns what it means to really invest everything. She is stronger, more resilient, and tougher than she’s given herself credit for.
Isy trained as both a surgeon and research scientist. She’s been working in the Virtual Human Project for several years and really does know what she’s doing. She sticks to a project – to a fault sometimes – until it is complete. When she’s confronted with an enemy, she fights back.
While she says being successful is not about being famous… it kind of is. She hates to be tied to money but unless she has funding, the research isn’t going anywhere.
Isy’s not very tall and this leads people to make assumptions about her power or abilities. She’s not what people usually think of as “bad ass” but when her family is threatened, look out! She pulls out all the stops.
She’s a perfectionist, which gets in the way of being a good team player. She takes over every time she’s in a group – any group – at home, work, or games. She begins to recognize it’s time to be more willing to collaborate, to harness everyone’s strengths so they can make progress.
MYSTERIOUS SABOTEUR (Antagonist)
They/it have no idea what ethics or morals have to do with technology and changing people’s lives.
Their values are firmly in the camp of power, status and money. They/it feel entitled to owning and profiting from the best discoveries. They are not above industrial espionage, sabotage or being as ruthless.
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What I learned is both my protagonists and antagonists are very much alike – they’re the flip side of the same coin – cunning, slick, manipulative. In a different world they might almost be a couple…
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR PROTAGONIST
My name is Monique Stevenson, but my birth name is Monica Isabelle Mendoza.I am a strong warrior woman, and I’m used to being the underdog. I’m a fighter by nature, and once I make up my mind, there’s nothing I can’t do. I was born in East LA and brought up by a single mom. But I’m strong. I’m smart. I earned a scholarship to a private school, paid my way through college, and fought my way up the corporate ladder to become the youngest, and first Latina VP of Regional Sales. There is nothing I can’t do.The scammer is a young white male who’s probably used to getting his way. I’m guessing he’s never been up against a determined Latina.I’m currently homeless, since the scammer convinced the police that my house was his. I have to really outsmart him, and do my own investigation because no lawyer is willing to take my case. Everyone thinks I’m delusional, but I’ll show them.I have to stop the drinking and aggressive behavior, because it’s not helping me make friends or gain supporters.It’s a man’s world. Even in 1990s Los Angeles.I’m a survivor, and I know how to read people. I have to beat this guy at his own game.I have tremendous guilt about the way my husband died. I’m afraid I nagged him to death. If I hadn’t been drinking and angry, he wouldn’t have walked away from me and into the path of that speeding car. That’s why I needed to get away from Seattle. My husband’s friends all thought I was to blame for his death. So I packed up my life and moved back to LA; never thought I’d be back – too many bad memories. But it was different – at first. Beautiful new house that my husband left me. I was finally living the life I’d envisioned for me. Until a fast-talking scammer talked the police into thinking the house was his. Now I’m homeless, jobless – but not powerless.
QUESTIONS FOR YOUR ANTAGONIST
Listen, I haven’t had an easy life. Abusive stepfather, drunk mother. All I had were my brains – well, and my good looks.I’ve always been a fast talker, and I’ve always been able to convince people that I’m right. Guess I just have that kind of face.I don’t really get pushback when dealing with females. That Monique person – she’s gonna be trouble. She looked me right in the face and tried to stare me down. That doesn’t usually happen. And she’s a fighter. This is gonna be fun, twisting the knife in her.It’s a prime piece of real estate. Maybe I’ll keep it, maybe I’ll wait for prices to climb higher – LA home prices, right?Look, I got nothing against that woman. I just don’t like losing, that’s all – especially to a girl. I don’t need people looking into my past – just because I grew up dirt poor doesn’t mean I don’t deserve nice things! I just need enough money to retire when I’m 40 – that’s the goal I set for myself. I got a nice spot down south in Baja – fishing’s nice down there. I just need to do a couple more title changes, wait a couple months and then sell – and then I’m set. Like I said – nothing personal.
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What I learned doing this assignment is how much pain my antagonist is in and how much selfishness is at play in my protagonist.
I sort of don’t want to share any details of the actual Q & A… feels weirdly personal?
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